Surrender was not a viable option for someone like me. Seeing the goblin approach with steady steps, I fled swiftly. Had I remained cornered against the wall, facing its imposing frame, my escape route would have been instantly blocked.
The goblin, advancing with astonishing speed, tracked my movements and executed a sharp turn. While crushing the ground beneath its feet, it pursued me with relentless determination.
I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye—it was closing in fast. Before my trembling eyes, its ferocious face grew progressively larger.
It stomped the ground violently. Facing the great crimson axe descending like a death sentence, I also struck the ground with all my strength and propelled myself upward.
To dodge its lateral attack, I dove headfirst, evading it completely. A bestial roar echoed behind me.
With my heart pounding, I spun in the air and landed on my feet while swiftly crouching to propel myself backward.
The ground cracked under the force of the impact. Cold sweat ran down my back as I did the impossible to distance myself from the goblin cloaked in that scarlet glow.
The moment its powerful, short legs touched the ground, the distance between us shrank to zero.
Before my wide eyes, the massive reddish axe traced a wide, lethal arc. My head filled with visions of blood.
Driven by the sound of the air being sliced, I used every gram of strength I had left to bend my knee and escape that deadly blow at the last possible second.
With unstoppable momentum, the axe wrapped in that crimson aura passed exactly where my torso had been a moment before.
Some strands of my golden hair with reddish hues were severed, floating in the air as the goblin continued its onslaught against me, crouched in a defensive stance.
The impact coursed through every fiber of my body as I fell to my side. The roars of its furious attacks echoed in my ears like the rumble of a storm unleashed in an open field. This was no time for doubt or hesitation.
My adversary's crimson axe cleaved the air with an ominous wail, its thirst for blood almost tangible. No matter how much I tried to keep my distance, the weapon seemed to have a will of its own, pursuing me with supernatural precision that chilled the blood.
Each contact of its fists and kicks against my frame was a cruel reminder of my fragility. I felt how every impact inexorably shortened the thin thread of my existence, but I forced myself to maintain composure. Fear was not a luxury I could afford, not when so much was at stake.
My heart raced, my breathing growing ever more labored. The constant pressure of dancing on the edge of the abyss, where any misstep would mean my definitive end, threatened to cloud my already precarious judgment.
Warnings blared in my head like furious bells, nearly shattering my eardrums. My body, once agile and precise, was now covered in profusely bleeding wounds—the inevitable price of desperately rolling on the ground to evade my enemy's relentless assaults.
There was no margin for error, not even the slightest. My body accumulated lacerations with every moment, but I adamantly refused to yield. With all the willpower I could muster, I suppressed the cowardly trembling of my legs and faced the goblin head-on.
I saw its left hook approaching, glowing with a blood-red shimmer that foretold destruction. With a movement calculated to the millimeter, I shifted my bone spear to intercept it laterally. The impact momentarily paralyzed my hand, but I managed to dodge the axe while retreating strategically.
It was painfully clear that I was being held back. My red eyes, distorted by effort until they lost their usual shape, met the goblin's ferocious gaze. In that critical moment, the universe shrank to just the two of us: the monster with its colossal axe and me, a mere boy reborn from the earth, wielding a bone spear.
Neither was willing to yield ground. Sweat slid down my cheeks as we engaged in a fierce battle; our weapons clashed with an intensity that made the earthen floor creak. The hobgoblin's brutal strength left its indelible mark on the ground with each devastating impact.
The clamor of our violent dance of weapons reverberated in all directions; the restrained roar of its destructive power intertwined with the sharp crack of movements executed at breakneck speed. Flashes of blood-red light mingled with fleeting sapphire glimmers in a deadly choreography that defied comprehension.
I was fully aware of the goblin's advantage. Its superior physical capability allowed it to maintain a continuous assault that pushed my limits to the extreme. This was a true fight to the death, where our existences hung by the same fragile thread.
Strangely, my body began to feel light as a feather. My mind reached an unprecedented, almost supernatural clarity. My thoughts roared with an intensity that rivaled the battle's own clamor. I ventured through the narrow gaps left by the relentless flashes of its great axe, advancing with unwavering determination.
— UVVVVVVUUUUUUUUUUUU! —The goblin's bestial cry echoed off the walls.
— JAAAAAAAAAHHH!
I responded with my own battle cry, one that rose from the depths of my soul.
We faced each other head-on, continuing our battle of power against speed. The wind whistled furiously around us, while a faint bluish glow seemed to pierce the space surrounding us.